Afghan in U.S. on special visa was planning Election Day terrorist attack with ISIS

(KOCO 5 ABC News) – An Afghan citizen living in Oklahoma City was charged Tuesday for conspiring to conduct a terrorist attack on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq [ISIS].

Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, allegedly conspired to conduct the attack on Election Day, according to a criminal complaint.

Tawhedi has been living in Oklahoma City with his family after entering the U.S. in 2021 on a special immigrant visa, and was plotting the attack in the name of Islamic State, according to the indictment. The Special Immigrant Visa program, which admitted up to 50 people a year in 2007, then 500 in 2008, is available to people who worked with the U.S. armed forces or under chief of mission authority as a translator or interpreter in Iraq or Afghanistan. [Per VOA: The US granted 26,500 SIVs to Afghans in 2023, which is a record high since the program began in 2008. This is more than double the 11,000 SIVs granted in 2022. Since 2008, nearly 120,000 SIVs have been awarded to Afghans.]

The indictment did not indicate whether Tawhedi worked as translator or interpreter in Afghanistan. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As part of the Tawhedi’s plan, he allegedly took steps to liquidate his family’s assets, resettle members of his family in Afghanistan, obtain weapons and commit a terrorist attack in the U.S.

Tawhedi’s unnamed co-conspirator, who is his wife’s younger brother and a virtual student at South Moore High School near Oklahoma City, advertised the family’s personal property for sale on Facebook. At the FBI’s direction, a confidential source responded to inquire if a computer was still for sale. The FBI source said that he needed the computer for a new gun business he was starting, which ultimately led Tawhedi and the juvenile to meet with the source and other FBI assets at a rural location to test firearms, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Tawhedi said that he would be interested in buying assault rifles, magazines and ammunitions from the source.

On Oct. 7, Tawhedi and his co-conspirator met with FBI assets at a rural location in Oklahoma, where they purchased, received and took possession of two AK-47 assault rifles, 10 magazines and 500 rounds of ammunition. Upon receipt of the weapons, they were arrested.

The FBI searched Tawhedi’s phone and obtained communications between the man and a person who facilitated recruitment, training and indoctrination of persons who expressed interest in terrorist activity and who Tawhedi understood to be affiliated with ISIS.

“Brother, our house was sold today. We’ll receive the money by the 15th of October, next month. After that we will begin our duty, Allah willing, with the help of Allah, we will get ready for the election day. Brother, what plan do you have for our family? If not a problem, please introduce us someone who is online, so we could discuss all of the matters with them. May Allah reward you brother,” Tawhedi said in translated messages from September.

Tawhedi is also accused to have accessed, viewed and saved ISIS propaganda on his iCloud and Google accounts, participated in pro-ISIS groups and contributed to a group that funnels money to the terrorist organization.

In communications seized by agents, Tawhedi allegedly indicated that his attack was planned for Election Day, something he confirmed in a post-arrest interview, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He told officials he was planning to target large gatherings, and he and the juvenile were expected to die as martyrs.

Tawhedi was also seen in a video recorded on July 20 reading to two children about the rewards a martyr receives in the afterlife.

He was charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, and receiving a firearm to be used to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

The case is being investigated by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office with assistance of the Oklahoma City and Moore, OK police departments. …

In response to the arrest, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, “… We will continue to combat the ongoing threat that ISIS and its supporters pose to America’s national security, and we will identify, investigate, and prosecute the individuals who seek to terrorize the American people. …”

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin said he does not know the specifics of how Tawhedi arrived in the U.S. and how he got his special immigrant visa status. He told KOCO 5, however, that when Tawhedi arrived in the fall of 2021 as the U.S. was pulling out of Afghanistan, the U.S. was doing a poor job of vetting Afghan refugees.

“When you go through the clearance, you go through a vulnerability check — like what can be leveraged to make you turn on your host country to do something like attack the elections,” Mullin said. “So, those leverage points are very important for us to understand before we just let them in the country.”

Mullin also said he was told about the investigation weeks ago and praised FBI agents for their work.

Senator Mullin also asked people “not to judge all Afghans that are here because of this one individual…”, saying “there are some great men and women…that are Afghan nationals that have saved many American lives….”

This is a developing story. KOCO 5 will provide additional details as they become available.

Compiled from October 9 reports at KOCO 5 ABC News local.